10Jun/091

Is A Smart B2B Salesperson Like A Smart Trial Lawyer?

Recently, a colleague of mine sent me a link to a blog post that I found quite intriguing. You may too. The concept behind the post is that the strongest B2B salespeople treat sales presentations like the most successful trial lawyers treat a trial.

At first, I was skeptical and didn’t really see how this concept made any sense; however, as I read the post, it started to come together for me. The basis of the post was that salespeople – much like good trial lawyers – must take the complex facts (in the case of salespeople, features and benefits) and make them simple for their audience.

One of the most compelling quotes from the post that ties into this assertion says, “Despite all the high-level sales training being jammed into our heads, we’d still have to learn to translate complex features and benefits into a simple language that everyone could understand.”

This hits home and rings perfectly with our philosophy: street-smart, simple and usable sales training doesn’t need to be high-level theory and complex models. It needs to be easily implementable! There are many out there that believe that the more complex a sales process methodology, the better. My position is that if it’s too complex, it’s not going to be used!

Don’t get me wrong…this post isn’t meant to “plug” our IMPACT Selling methodology. Instead, it’s designed to get you thinking about where you stand regarding complex vs. simple sales processes. You make the call based on your beliefs. However, before you do, check out the blog post:

http://www.simplenomics.com/sales-presentations-like-trial-lawyer/

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Filed under: Sales Presentations 1 Comment
21May/090

Jing: A Hugely Useful Free Piece of Technology

The other day I received an email from a business associate of mine. His company, Sequential Selling, is a reseller of many of our products and programs in Canada. He had just attended a seminar which highlighted recent research detailing the reasons for customer loyalty, as well as the percentages associated with each reason (by the way – 53% of study respondents said “ease of buying experience” is a primary factor in their decision to stay with a vendor).

At any rate, the cool thing about the email he sent me is that it had text content touching on some of the information he felt was important to share, as well as a link at the bottom which he referenced as his “jing” on the topic. At that point I had no idea what a “jing” was! The link took me to a screen capture program which allowed my colleague to “talk” me through some of the slides and graphs from the program he attended. In other words, Jing is a free open-source screen capture program that allows you to share information with someone via email. The recipient can then review your email, as well as your comments, at his or her convenience.

While the uses of this tool are many, here are a couple of ideas that come to mind:

  • Sharing visual and audio information with a client via email without having to schedule a conference call.
  • Sending information to a prospect with embedded audio which he or she may find useful and which will position you as a valuable resource
  • For use as an information delivery tool, especially if you’re in the information or consulting business

While I know that screen capture software is nothing new, I thought I’d share this particular program with you because this version is free up to a certain data amount.

To learn more about Jing, you should check it out at http://www.jingproject.com/.

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Filed under: Sales Technology No Comments
11Mar/090

Consider A Complementary Prospecting Plan

For savvy salespeople, personal prospecting means implementing a personal marketing plan. It’s not cold calling. With that in mind, I wanted to share an idea that really isn’t brand-new but may be something worth thinking about when looking for buyers in today’s ever-toughening economic situation.
With buyers becoming harder and harder to find, the time may be right for you to reach out to organizations you may have previously viewed as possible competitors and try to establish some sort of collaborative relationship.

You’re probably thinking “What in the world is he talking about?”

What I’m saying here is that you may want to sit down and think hard about organizations that are parallel to your industry; organizations that sell products and services that complement (and could sometimes potentially compete against) what it is you sell. Then, reach out to these organizations and create a cross-referral agreement.

A perfect example in our world is something that ties in with one of the business services we sell here at The Brooks Group: personal assessments for hiring.

Many times in the past, when we’ve advised a client that a potential hire was not going to be a fit for their environment, they’ve asked us if we knew of any reputable recruiters. In the past, we had to admit that we really couldn’t recommend a solid placement firm (and we frankly didn’t want to, as many of them offer assessments of their own). However, one of our salespeople recently built a relationship with a proven placement agency and created a solid cross-referral agreement. Now, when asked if we can recommend a recruiter to one of our assessment clients, we say “absolutely!” And on the other side of the coin, we are finding that our recruiter advocate is sending assessment business to us.

In conclusion, if you can think of complementary businesses (or a product or service that you don’t currently offer, but can refer someone to) — reach out to that organization yourself and develop a relationship! In short, competition is good. However, cooperation is great when we’re all working as hard as we can to find qualified buyers!

Filed under: Professional Selling No Comments
2Feb/090

Keep Your Enthusiasm – Even In Tough Times!

The other day, as I was looking through some of my late father, Bill Brooks’, old books. I noticed a copy of Frank Bettger’s classic, “How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling.” Now, I had heard of this book many, many times throughout my life as I’ve sat through our IMPACT Selling® sales training programs, but to be honest… I had never read it before.

For years this book has been referenced in the introductory portion of the High IMPACT Sales Training program because the line we recite, “Show people what they want most, and they will move heaven and earth to get it” is taken from Bettger.

At any rate, now that I’ve framed this up for you, I’ll get to the point. I’ve begun to read this book, and the first chapter is all about enthusiasm and how this one simple concept helped the author – Bettger – increase his income by 700% in ten days. I’m not going to go into detail here about how and in what context Frank did it, but as I read it, it occurred to me that if we all embrace enthusiasm in our everyday selling endeavors, we’re going to be happier, more successful and – if this is important to you – wealthier.

Ever since I was very young, I remember my Dad coming home at night and writing. Whether he was authoring a book, working on his business plan or writing articles on his pet subject (sales and personal development) to submit to various publications, he was always working up until he went to sleep… sometimes in the chair with his work on his lap.

I also remember asking him so many times, “WHY CAN’T YOU STOP WORKING???” And it’s not that we didn’t spend time together or anything like that… it was just that he was – I thought at the time – obsessed with work.

Now, I understand; he was enthusiastic about his life’s work, and enthusiasm breeds a commitment to whatever you do, whether it’s for a living or for a hobby. As Mr. Bettger says in his now 60-year-old book, , “I know this: When I force myself to act enthusiastic, I soon feel enthusiastic.”

I’ll leave you with this thought: Right now, there aren’t many things we can control. The economy is in a recession (some call it a depression) and business is harder to find than it has been since 2001. However, if you can dig deep inside and force yourself to be enthusiastic about what you’re doing (even if you really don’t feel like it), you’ll have more energy, work harder and ultimately rise to the top to overcome your daily selling challenges!

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Filed under: Sales Motivation No Comments
2Jan/080

Prospecting Tips: Direct Value Statement

Can't it be hard to get appointments with prospects? We've all had the experience of leaving phone messages, or networking at events, for prospects we are fairly sure are good ones. I can't give you the magic tool that will make every prospect call back - or accept your next call - but I can make a suggestion that will improve your odds significantly.

When you call a prospect, what goes through his or her mind?

  • Who are you?
  • What do you represent?
  • What's in it for me?

To answer these questions effectively - and quickly - use a Direct Value Statement. What's a Direct Value Statement? It's a fast summary of what value you bring to customers who are like the prospect you're hoping to sell to. It can be used in a voice mail, face-to-face, or over the phone.

Here's an example: "My name is Will Brooks, with The Brooks Group. We assist our customers in the long-term healthcare industry to build their sales cultures and grow census. We do this by providing customized sales and sales management training reinforced with practical, real-world coaching."

See how it works?

My name is ____________________________, with __________________________.

We assist our customers in the _________________________ industry

to __________________________________________________________________.

We do this by _________________________________________________________.

You should practice and practice your Direct Value Statement in your own words so that it flows easily and naturally for you when you need it - whether you're telephone prospecting, networking at an event, or just meeting a stranger at a party.

Filed under: Prospecting No Comments
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